Dogfish Head Theobroma

In these years of posting my thoughts on beer I've said it many times, and it bears saying again: I'm a huge fan of Dogfish Head Ales out of Deleware. Not only do they make great hoppy beers, they also make great unusual styles, sometimes historic, and owner Sam Caglione is a great ambassador for craft beer. The latest beer new to the Houston market is a historic ale, an ale based on a historic recipe. If you are familiar with DFH think a beer like Midas Touch as being a historic ale. This recipe is based on an ancient Aztec alcoholic chocolate drink called Food of the God's (which is what Theobroma loosely translates too). You already know its not going to be your traditional beer and a peak at the recipe list confirms it: Aztec cocoa powder and cocoa nibs, honey, chilies, and annatto (fragrant tree seeds). Well we know some background for this one, let's see how it tastes.
The Beer: It weighs in at 9% and pours a pale golden orange with a thin white head. Just from the color you know its not a typical chocolate ale. The nose is a complex, an assault of different scents. Honey, coco powder, flowers, melon, spice. The mouthfeel is medium bodied, not a lot of carbonation. Like the nose there is a whole lot going on here, almost too much to keep up with. Flavors of honey, coco, honey suckle, green peppers, notes of boozy alcohol. Chocolatey without being sweet which is interesting. There are strange notes that I can only compare to tasting like tea. The individual flavors are incredibly interesting, and together its complex, but it just doesn't all meld well together. I respect what DFH did here, but this is not my favorite offering from them. It's just too discombobulated for me. This one gets a C+ from me. The folks at BA like it more than I do.